Telecommunication networks provide for the transmission of information across some distance through terrestrial, wireless, or satellite communication networks. Such communications may involve voice, data, or multimedia information, among others. Typically, a user or customer to a telecommunications network utilizes a communication device, such as a telephone or computer, to transmit and receive communications to and from another user of the telecommunications network. The network provides any number of components interconnected in such a manner as to facilitate the transmission of communications between two or more users of the network. The flow and handling of the various communications transmitted across the network is commonly known as traffic.
Generally, traffic is managed by one or more carriers and/or service providers, among other entities. Carriers are registered with and regulated by state and/or federal government entities, such as the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). In contrast, service providers utilize a carrier to provide information and communication products and services to users and as such, are not regulated by such government entities in the same manner.
Because no single major carrier controls the market, it is beneficial for the major carriers to interconnect with each other and/or service providers so that users perceive that they are interacting with a single, transparent network. As such, a particular carrier may exchange traffic with one or more other carriers and/or service providers to facilitate the transmission of communications between users. Depending on the nature of the traffic exchanged, a first carrier may receive payment settlements from a second carrier corresponding to the cost borne by the first carrier for carrying traffic originating from a user of the second carrier. Further, based on the information provided by the second carrier about the nature of a particular communication, such as a call, the first carrier may enable special capabilities or route the communication in a particular manner. However, it is often challenging to ascertain the nature of traffic exchanged or the nature of a particular communication with reasonable certainty, particularly in the context of payment settlements.
For example, the FCC redesigned the nation's intercarrier compensation framework, which dictates, in part, the payment settlements between carriers. In doing so, the FCC designated “VoIP-PSTN traffic,” which is defined as traffic exchanged over Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”) facilities that originates and/or terminates in Internet Protocol (“IP”) format, as being compensated differently than non-VoIP traffic. As such, within this compensation framework, carriers must differentiate VoIP-PSTN traffic originating and terminating on their networks for purposes of assessing access charges. The FCC directed carriers to differentiate VoIP-PSTN traffic using a jurisdictional factor, commonly known as a Percent VoIP Usage (“PVU”). Each carrier is required to calculate a PVU specific to its own traffic and provide that information to its switched access vendors. However, the introduction of PVU has caused confusion in the telecommunications industry as carriers attempt to evaluate the proper derivation and implementation of the PVU and to properly charge for VoIP-PSTN traffic. This confusion has resulted in numerous billing disputes between carriers.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.